When We Opened The Door
by LilHobbitBookWorm
Summary: Though your story begins with Haruhi being forced to join us in the Host club, OUR story begins that first time in our third year of middle school when we opened the door, and it changed our lives forever.
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Door The Twins Opened

"Remember Kaoru, we can't be moved by what that foolish lord says." _I told Kaoru, my hand placed on the doorhandle. I could feel the cold metal curled underneath my hands. _So I took the handle too, sharing the weight of this decision. Neither of us really knew what to expect, we just knew that something about what that Tamaki Suoh had said got to us. _Contradictory? What did he mean contradictory? We were exactly the same. _At least we were on the outside. We had always known that we were different from one another. The one that was not me was Hikaru. _The one that was not me was Kaoru. We were different people._ We were different, but we had shut ourselves off from the world because we didn't think that anyone could ever see us.

"Yeah, I know. We're just here to kill some time." I looked down at my hand that now grasped the doorknob. Both of us were only here because it would be interesting. _As soon as we got bored of it we would leave. That foolish lord wouldn't be able to hold us there with his melodramatic words._ He wouldn't be able to unlock our hearts. No one had been able to before, and no one would be able to in the future. _What he said though, the idea that someone may be able to tell us apart in the future, if only we would open ourselves up to the face. It was complete shit._ It was something to hope for. In the future.

"Right, that's it. We're just killing some time. Let's open the doors together" I_ smiled over at Kaoru. He was the only one that had ever really known me, and I felt somewhat afraid as I stood there, grasping the handle of the Music room in the high school._ I wasn't afraid. I think even a part of me was excited at this chance to finally do something that we had never allowed ourselves to do. _We were still together, even if we were just broadening our horizons a little bit._ I took a breath. _I took a breath._

"Ready, set." Go. _Go._

IIIII

A/N - So this idea has been on my mind for a while. I do have a few chapters planned out, but I am going to see how many people respond to this. Most of all I am worried that it s confusing. If you didn't figure it out, Kaoru is the one in normal print and _Hikaru is the one in italics_. I do not own Ouran, either the Japanese dialogue or the dubbed English dialogue. Please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 1

A/N – So, Chapter one. This fic is probably going to be fairly short, but thank you all for your reviews so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget that Kaoru is in normal print and _Hikaru is in italics_.

"See, Kyoya! I told you that they would come! Welcome, Hitachiin brothers, to the Host Club!" _That Suoh guy said as Kaoru and I opened the door. He really looked like a feudal lord as he waved his arms around for emphasis._ Tamaki Suoh, bright eyed and unphased by the fact that we had attempted blackmailing him. _Did anything bother this guy?_ I doubted that anything made him upset, and _it was too late in the afternoon to be this perky_. _What an idiot_. What an idiot.

"Kao-chan, Hika-chan! You're part of the Host club too!" Honey-sempai ran towards us, grabbing Hikaru around the neck and twisting him around before jumping on me and doing the same. _That stupid pink bunny basically smothered me. Why was he so excited about a stupid club? I know I told Kaoru that we would try it out, and yeah I wanted to, but this already was too much._ I never thought that anyone would be so excited to see us. Granted, Honey-sempai was excitable in general, but everyone else was smiling too. _Except for Mori-sempai._ But when did he EVER smile? _True_

"Welcome." _Mori-sempai's deep voice echoed through the music room as he came up to Kaoru and tousled his hair. Pssshht. _He did it to Hikaru too. I fought back the urge to laugh when I mirrored the look of frustration on my brother's face. He hates stuff like that. _I hate patronizing. I looked over at Kaoru whose face was mimicking the same disgust I was. _If Hikaru was frustrated, I would act frustrated. We were the same, right? _We were going to prove that feudal lord wrong._ But that's just contradicting ourselves. We wanted to be told apart, _we didn't want to be told apart_. _This was just another one of our stupid games. _Another one of our attempts to alienate people.

"Well. Since we are all here it would behoove us to begin our preparation for tomorrow's opening of the club." Kyoya-sempai said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, opening his notebook and writing something down in it. _Kyoya-sempai was scary, especially when he was writing something in that stupid notebook. What the hell did he write in there anyways?_

"Alright gentleman! Tomorrow will begin the Host club's activities, and we will make our guests happier than they ever could be. Our job at the elite Ouran High School Host club is to make every girl happy!" _Remember when we took a class in world history at the end of elementary school and there was a picture of that George Washington guy standing on the ship with one leg propped up on the edge of the boat. _Oh yeah! That's just was I was thinking that feudal lord looked like. The feudal lord had one of his legs bent and set atop a chair while he pointed off into the distance. _I wonder if he realized how much of an idiot he was. _

"Grandiose ambitions aside, we do need to be ready to entertain our guests in a manner befitting our status. As this is our goal, Tamaki and I have come up with roles that will accentuate your personality types and lead to a variety of hosting possibilities." I looked over at Hikaru. _I looked over at Kaoru. Didn't Tamaki talk about this with us earlier? Something about brotherly love?_

"Honey-sempai, we are going to focus on your love of cute things and on your small stature to captivate the interest of the princesses who prefer loli-boys." The feudal lord dramatically pointed towards Honey-sempai, who acknowledged the words by hugging Usa-chan tightly and smiling. _If he hugged that bunny any harder its head would pop off. Then again, someone that small really couldn't be that strong._ Hikaru, be nice._ What? I'm just saying._

"Yes sir, Tama-chan!" _Honey-sempai saluted. What was that going to do to Tamaki-sempai's ego?_ He was less self obsessed than we were, yet he was probably a little bit more interested in other people than we were. If he wasn't, then why would he invite people like us to join this club. _He was just gathering the most prominent Japanese families together. Really it was cold and manipulative. _I wonder if he even knew what he was doing in gathering us all here. Did he see just our money or did he actually see us? No one have ever really seen the real us before, and no one had ever tried to. _That was our fault though_. Yeah, it really was our fault. It didn't matter though. As soon as we were bored with this we would leave.

"Mori-sempai's allure will be his silent and strong character. Of course, being paired up with Honey-sempai makes these character traits more appealing. Not that you're an unappealing person, Mori-sempai." _How cold could you get? _Kyoya-sempai was harsh, but I guess that they would be closer since they are only a class apart. Mori-sempai was pretty intimidating though. _He could probably rip your arm off. It's probably a good thing that a pip-squeak like Honey-sempai has someone able to protect him. What do the Haninozuka and Morinozuka families do again?_ Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai's families had something to do with the military, I think.

"Kyoya will be the cool type because he will most likely be calculating club costs instead of entertaining ladies. Besides, the ladies who come to be Kyoya's guests will most likely desire to remain silent and watch from afar, anyways." Tamaki-sempai looked down at Kyoya and poked him on the shoulder as he spoke. _Kyoya's glare sure is powerful and frightening, but it would be enough to send me into the corner cowering. What the hell was that feudal lord doing?_ Was that guy seriously pouting in the corner? Gosh, he really was too much. How does Kyoya-sempai put up with it?

"Tamaki-sempai obviously matches the role of the princely type." I said, leaning my head on my hand and gazing over at the blond high school student who had turned to look at me with huge eyes.

"I don't think I've ever seen a princely character like him." _I leaned my head on my hand, shifting my gaze over to where that feudal lord sat. Shit. Puppy dog eyes._

"You two are wonderful judges of character! Your recognition of my majesty proves that it's not every day that you meet someone is as perfect as me. Can I help being so touched by the hand of God?" He had come out of the corner and was now dancing around the table, his eyes sparkling. _He was giving me a headache._

"Hika-chan and Kao-chan are the little devil type, right Tama-chan?" Honey asked. _It made sense. _No arguments here.

"Correct, Honey-sempai! They are quite the mischievous children, aren't they?" Children? _Was he calling us his children? Just because we were sitting her right now didn't mean that we were family. _He probably was just referring to our ages. No one could be stupid enough to consider everyone here a family.

"Yes, Honey-sempai, although they will need more of a draw then that. You and Mori-sempai already have the supreme friendship type, so they will need something else to be effective. Besides, we can't afford having guests being picked on all of the time. Think of what would happen if they tried a stunt like they did in elementary school. Not only would our King have an aneurism, but the club would have to pay for damages, and I assure you that that would not happen." Cold. _That's what Kyoya-sempai was. _

_Though, I remembered that day in elementary school. We had set the curtains of our classroom on fire because we wanted to see how fast our overweight teacher could run. _It was actually pretty mean, and we got soot all over our clothes. Pyrotechnics doesn't work when you are wearing designer clothes. Mom was so mad at us that she forced us to be models for swimsuits. _No wonder we are so screwed up._

"Gentlemen, that is why we will focus on their brotherly love! Two perfectly symmetrical beings with homosexual tendencies who struggle between their attraction and their friendship. Because you both are twins, it becomes taboo. I can just see the girls now!" _Tamaki-sempai had clasped his hands in front of his chest and was swaying back and forth. _

"Of course. We have everything else. Now we just need something for the yaoi fangirls to enjoy. It's a perfect recipe for a top notch club." Kyoya-sempai didn't look up as he wrote something in his notebook, but I swore that I could see a small sinister smile.

_I was trying to unpack what the two of them had just said. Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai were staring at the two of us, that scary bunny almost smirking at us. _Homosexual tendencies. Yaoi fangirls. Taboo. Did that mean that they wanted us to…? _You don't think that they meant…?_

"Twincest! You've got to be kidding me!" I screamed. _I cried_. _No way in hell that was going to happen. I looked over at Kaoru. _I glanced over at Hikaru and sighed. Tamaki-sempai was looking at us expectantly, _giving us those puppy dog eyes again. _How are we going to survive this? _How the hell are we going to get through this?_


	3. Chapter 2

**1:24am**

"Hikaru, are you still awake?" I reached out my arm and rolled it over his shoulder, "Hikaru?" With a sigh I retracted my hand and turned so that I was facing the white ceiling. I wanted to ask him what he thought about the act that we had worked on, but I guess he was too tired from the day. I'm sure that it was pretty hard on him, being in front of that many people. Hikaru was always a bit more emotional than I was, and I could tell that he was on his breaking point in that room. Music Room number three. Honey-sempai and Tamaki-sempai seemed genuinely glad that we had finally joined them. I never thought that that was ever possible. Mori-sempai was as stoic as ever, and Kyoya-sempai had the smirk of compensation that he was so noted for in his class. The interesting thing was…all of them wanted us to be there. I could tell because I felt more comfortable in that room than I ever had anywhere else. I felt almost as comfortable as I do when I am alone with Hikaru, just talking and playing together. I wanted to know if he felt the same way I did. But that wasn't the only thing I wanted to ask if he felt the same way about.

There was something that I was very uncomfortable with, and that was the brotherly love that Tamaki-sempai thought would attract the high school girls and Kyoya-sempai thought would be the perfect money-grubbing tool. Hikaru and I have always been together, and we were comfortable with being physically close to one another, but this was on a completely different level than anything before. I don't know whether the newness of it scares me more, or the fact that I enjoy it on some psychological level.

I'm not of that persuasion, in fact, some of the girls that we had turned into a game, calling them mean when they wrote love letters and said that they would accept either of us, were very nice girls who I've liked in the past. Yet, maybe doing this would help me keep Hikaru around a little bit longer. It's not that I really have to worry about anyone tearing him away from me, especially since no one is good enough to be considered our friend, but it will make it easier to keep an eye on him and make sure that we are always together. That he never leaves me. Hmn, I guess this is why it works better if I am the uke. I'm the one who needs Hikaru.

IIIII

_**1:24 am**_

"Hikaru, are you still awake?" _Yes Kaoru, but I don't want to talk right now._ "Hikaru?" _I heard Kaoru sigh and turn around in bed. Once I heard his breathing slow down a bit I opened my eyes, staring across the room at the door. It had a shiny silver handle. Damn it! Why did we have to open that door in the first place? Why the hell did we ever think that it was going to be fun? First we get attacked by Honey-sempai who, despite the fact that he is older than us, looks as if he is in elementary school. Then that feudal lord begins to act all bipolar, crawling over into the corner like a kid on time-out. And to top it all off Kyoya-sempai is there with that stupid notebook and rationalizing everything that Tamaki-sempai was saying. I thought of anyone he would have more common sense than to think that Kaoru and I could ever participate in something so taboo._

_I am not gay! To hell with good looking guys with homosexual tendencies that engage in incestuous behavior. Twincest? Really? And I can't even believe that Kaoru was okay with it! I can't believe I was okay enough with it to help Kaoru come up with a plan of attack earlier tonight. What the hell were these people doing to us?_

_We were perfectly fine together beforehand; however, maybe this would work out in our benefit. Nobody can ever tell us apart, and this twincest was just going to make it even harder for them to try and tell us apart. Not to mention it was completely repulsive. If there were enough girls who were so frustrated or disgusted by the role-play, it would force us out of the club. Then we could go back to how everything was before this happened. Kaoru would like that. He doesn't really deal with change very well, at least worse than I do. If we could pull this off then we could be out of the Host club in the matter of a few weeks. No, a few days. I could count on Kaoru._

IIIII

**The Next Day – Music Room Three**

No way. _Not possible_. _How could girls actually be enjoying this? _There is no way that girls can like this kind of thing.

"Kaoru-kun, Hikaru-kun, do you always hold hands like that? I know that I always see you two together, but are you really even closer than you seem in class?" A girl with short black hair asked us as her eyes continued to stare at my hand that was clasped underneath Hikaru's. _She was blushing. What kind of a freak blushes at the sight of two guys holding hands, especially if they are brothers? _At least it was working.

Hikaru wasn't very good at acting, though he was keeping his attitude down to a minimum today and following our script as best as possible. It's a good thing that we thought of everything that a girl could ask us. _We only had one customer. If we didn't get anymore then maybe we would be kicked out of the Host club. We just had to play this a little bit longer, follow the script, and then maybe something bad would happen._

"We're always together, so why shouldn't we hold hands." _I said, turning my face towards Kaoru's. _Hikaru, you just need to say the line so that we can stop Tamaki-sempai from staring at us and ignoring his own guests._ Uggg, disgusting, why couldn't this just be over already_, "Besides, Kaoru is just so adorable that I can't bear to let him go." _I did it, I reached out my hand and cupped my thumb and pointer finger around his chin, pulling his eyes up to look at mine._

"Hikaru," I pressed my eyelids together, acting like I was trying to pull my face out of Hikaru's grasp, "You're embarrassing me."

"EEEEPPPP!" _He did it. Damn it. I can't believe she enjoyed that. _I choked back a triumphant smile in order to keep in character. It looks like our first customer was pleased with the performance. _Okay, we still have a chance to ruin this whole thing. She is just one girl._

"Oh such beautiful brotherly love! I am so moved, so touched that the fountain of my soul is erupting beneath my breast. Oh what camaraderie and companionship illuminated by the Hitachiin brothers." _Oh crap. Why did HE have to open his big mouth!_ Tamaki-sempai seemed like he actually enjoyed the act. _This was all that foolish lords fault. This was his idea!_

"Mademoiselles, since there is such an extensive waiting list to sit with Tamaki, Mori-sempai, and Honey-sempai, I think it would be appropriate, seeing as this is the grand opening of the Host Club, to offer our Brotherly Love package half off." _Evil Shadow King. _Dark eyes, dark heart, dark soul. Then again, the game would be more fun if we had more guests. Kyoya-sempai probably thought the same thing. _There was no way out of this. No way were we going to get out of this. I'm sure Kaoru thought the same thing. Damn it! Maybe if we made it into a game it would be easier to stomach._

Two other high school girls ran over towards us, sitting on the couch and squishing themselves into the seat along with the dark haired customer who looked like she was having an asthma attack. _The two new girls were looking at us expectantly. The third girl was still wheezing in excitement._

You know what, Hikaru, I think that this game could be fun.

_Kaoru, this is going to be the longest day of our lives._


	4. Chapter 3

"Thirteen girls attended the club. Four requested to sit with Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai, three with Kaoru and Hikaru, and six with our King. All in all, a very successful beginning. I gathered some great data today." _Kyoya-sempai was so malicious, so devious, so calculating. There was no way that Kaoru and I were going to be able to get out of this now. Damn those girls. Why the hell did they have to enjoy yaoi so much?_ You know, this was actually a little bit more fun than I had expected. It was true that we only got half as many guests as Tamaki-sempai, but that was saying something considering Kyoya-sempai didn't have anyone.

"Gentleman, I am proud to have you fighting this battle by my side. We showed those girls what the meaning of chivalry is today. I'm so proud!" Tamaki-sempai's eyes glistened as his fluttered around the table, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. I fought back a smile. I could really get used to this. Not only was it nice to have Hikaru closer than ever, but it was nice to feel like something I did mattered. I'd never really thought of myself being chivalrous, especially considering that love letter game we would play with those girls, but it really did feel good to bring smiles to those girl's faces instead of tears.

_Chivalry my ass. Just because I couldn't escape this now didn't mean that I had to enjoy it. Being fawned over by a bunch of girls wasn't all that bad, but I still didn't feel comfortable here. All these people were complete idiots. I wonder what Kaoru thought. If I know my brother like I know I do, he hated it._

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, aren't you so happy that you've got customers? It was so much fun to play with them today." _Honey-sempai mumbled between bites of cake, that idiotic pink bunny's ears flopping underneath his jaw._

"We don't need to have customers to have fun. Kaoru and I do just fine by ourselves." _I crossed my arms, ignoring the pout that my words were bringing to the pampered loli-boy. _Hikaru really was not having fun. Of course he would be oblivious to the fact that I was actually enjoying myself a little bit.

"We've never needed anyone else and we don't really need this. The only reason we joined was to keep ourselves entertained." I couldn't let Hikaru be alone in this. He was my brother after all. If he didn't want to be here then I would follow him. Just because I was having a little bit of fun didn't mean that I was going to give up Hikaru just like that. _Good, at least Kaoru and I were on the same brainwave. I really wasn't expecting him to be excited about this club idea._

"Are you saying that you don't want to be in the Host club after even one day? All daddy wants for his boys is for them to be happy and meet new people!" _Daddy?_ Tamaki-sempai really was a first class idiot, but he was a pure idiot nonetheless. Though, there were so many reasons that the whole 'son' thing just wouldn't work out. _Daddy? Really? That's almost as disturbing as the twincest. Almost._

"What makes you think that we care?" _I said strongly_. I faked my own frustration, knowing that was what Hikaru was feeling. _Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms behind my head and rolled my eyes. _I let my arms hang lip as I sat back in my chair, my fingers brushing the ground and closing my eyes as I heard a strangled gasp come from where Tamaki-sempai had been standing. _That foolish lord rushed off into the corner of the room. I swear, this guy needed his own personal raincloud to appear above him in a moment's notice. At least Kaoru and I were still on the same track. Kaoru was always there to support me._

"Reguardless of anyone's desire to be here or not, we did have a rather exceptional amount of guests today, and would do well to remember that even more girls will adorn Music Room Three tomorrow. Our success as a club rides on our guests."_ Really what he means is that his heartless tax-collector soul wouldn't be satisfied unless the club had an equal or greater number of guests tomorrow. _His words were true, but I couldn't help but notice that there was a double meaning in there somewhere. It could just be me, but I truly think there was more to that statement than meets the eye, especially since I can still feel an icy chill on the nape of my neck.

"Kyoya is right!" Well that was a fast recovery, Tamaki-sempai. _Like I said before…bipolar, _"Our princesses will be joining us again tomorrow, and now that we have officially begun hosting it is our job to make every girl that walks through those doors happy! This is our Olympian quest, gentleman. We shall set on out task like the mighty Hercules, and we will conquer!" _This guy was definitely like a feudal lord readying his troops for a battle against a fierce competitor. I didn't like this whole 'brotherly love' thing, but it wasn't as if entertaining girls was that difficult. _It wasn't hard to ignore how princely Tamaki-sempai was, but I felt a little bit more pumped than before.

No one would ever be able to tell us apart. I had known that from the beginning, but for some reason those words that Tamaki-sempai spoke right then reminded me of what he said before about someone being able to tell us apart eventually as long as we didn't lock ourselves away. This was a good step towards that goal. Even though Hikaru still didn't seem too pleased, there were ways to make him enjoy this.

IIIII

"Kaoru, I don't think that I can do this anymore. Those guys are complete idiots, especially Tamaki-sempai and his princely mental illness. Not to mention that every time Kyoya-sempai looks at me, I feel like he is going to turn me into stone and melt me into tar." _It was so nice to be home, finished with our homework, finished with our twincest role-play plans, and playing a game with the only person I could actually relate to._

"B4. It's not all that bad. We just need to find a way to make it more fun. It's not like Kyoya-sempai is every going to let us leave the club now that he knows the club can make a profit off of us." I watched Hikaru lift a white peg and place it on his board. Damn, he was winning again. I really should just stick to reading. It was amusing that Hikaru rarely ever noticed anything in the real world, but in the virtual world of Nintendo DS and board games he was a pro.

"Um…A9. I guess so, but I just don't see how entertaining a bunch of dimwitted girls could be all that fun. It isn't like they are going to ever be able to tell us apart. I don't even think that our Host club sempai's will ever be able to tell us apart." _I yawned in the middle of my words. This was so boring. I was winning, like always, but at least it was Kaoru and not any of the losers from our class or the Host club._

"You sunk my battleship. Why are you so mean to me?" I softened my voice and turned my head to the side, trying to bring a tear to my eye. Tamaki-sempai nearly cried with all of his customers and they seemed to really fawn over him even more when he did it. I guess I still had a way to go, "No, they won't ever be able to tell us apart, but at least they are trying to. That's better than everyone else we've ever met. Not even that maid we liked so much tried to tell us apart; she just guessed."

_Kaoru was too damn smart for his own good. It was a good thing that I loved him so much, or I wouldn't hesitate smacking him. He had a point though. Even though those guys were complete imbeciles compared to us, they were making an effort._

"Why do you have to do that now? We finished writing the role-play for tomorrow and we aren't in front of giggling girls. It's creepy." _I glared over at my reflection who was putting on the most disturbing looking pout ever. It was disturbing because he was trying to master the Tamaki-sempai puppy dog eyes. He just looked like a human with headlights for eyes._

"I figured it would be fun to get into character." I received a glare, "You know, your death glare isn't going to work anymore. I've been stunned by Kyoya-sempai's eyes. I'm surprised I actually ate dinner."

"Getting into character isn't fun. It's disturbing. As is Kyoya-sempai. If Tamaki-semapi is the prince of light then Kyoya-sempai must be the prince of darkness."

"Shadow King!" I laughed and pointed at Hikaru. _I nearly had a heart attack as I said those words and pointed at Kaoru. _It was true though. That's probably why we both thought of it at the same time. _He had those stupid glasses that glinted in the light as if they were the spark to ignite the flames of hell itself_. The way he spoke was ice cold, and he was always calculating something in that black notebook he always had on him. _That black notebook. It was like he was writing down names for slaughter in there._

"Hikaru. I think I know a way that we could make the Host club more interesting." I closed the lid of the game and leaned my elbows on the table, setting my chin in my hands, grinning devilishly, "For instance, what would happen if the Shadow King suddenly lost his notebook?"

"You know what, Kaoru," I_ mirrored my brother's expression and movements, matching his sadistic grin with my own, _"That's just what I was thinking."

IIIII

A/N – So thanks for the support guys. I really enjoy reading your reviews and getting feedback on this story. I really am starting to get into it. The next chapter may take a while to get out, but I already have planned what I basically want to happen so it shouldn't take too long I hope. No promises though. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 4

_Kaoru, get the damn alarm clock. Hurry up; I want to sleep in some more. _

Hikaru, the alarm clock is on your side of the bed. I hope you don't expect me to get it. It's your fault that you wouldn't listen to me until four in the morning.

_The alarm is right next to you stupid. I flung my hand to the side, knocking the alarm clock off of the bedside table. Dammit._

"Did you just break the alarm clock again?" Why would I ask when I already know the answer? One would think that since we have the same DNA he would be as smart as me. Guess that was hoping for too much, "That's clock number seven, isn't it?" I rolled over, only to see Hikaru try and avoid my eyes.

"It's not my fault; you should put it on your side from now on if you're so worried about it." _I grumbled. Why was Kaoru so worried about a stupid clock? There were more important things to think about this morning anyways. _

"I was going to ask why you are so irritable this morning, but then I remembered that you're irritable every morning." Rolling my eyes I got out of bed and walked over to our closet, grabbing my clothes and heading into the shower. Hikaru was such a child! He really needed to get over this if we were going to go through with our plan today, especially since Kyoya-sempai was intelligent beyond comprehension.

"You're just about as grouchy as you in the morning. I just don't try to hide it." _I walked into the bathroom and stuck my tongue out at the shower curtain. Kaoru was such a freaking idiot sometimes! Who did he think he was? The older one?_

Hikaru was so immature that he probably tried to flip me off or stick his tongue out at me while I'm showering. Pathetic. Yet, I guess that's why I love him. Besides, we had to concentrate on our plans for today.

"So, let's just make sure that we have our plans down. Our recess period is the same period that Kyoya-sempai has gym, meaning that we can break into his locker. You managed to get the combination, right?" I asked Hikaru as I exited the shower, and moving to the vanity to blow-dry my hair.

"Yeah. It was easy to sneak into the gym office and find the folder with all the student combinations in it. I even got Tamaki Suoh's combination." _I grinned. That foolish lord was the reason all of this was happening. If we couldn't find a way to escape the Host club, then we would make their lives a living hell. Besides, Kyoya-sempai would make for an interesting toy._

This was going to be fun. Kyoya-sempai scared me at the best of times, but getting him back would make for an interesting game.

IIIII

"Who would have thought that Kyoya-sempai could run that fast? It doesn't even look like he's breaking a sweat." _This guy was even cool when running around the track. How did he even manage that?_

"Come on. We need to hurry up; their period ends in twenty minutes." _I grabbed Kaoru's hand and pulled him through the entrance to the men's locker room and over to Kyoya-sempai's locker, pulling a card with the code out of my pocket and opening the locker._

"Hold on a second. Which one is it?" I asked, looking over to Hikaru whose eyes were probably as wide as mine. _We looked back at the locker where, on the top of his schoolbag, _was a set of seven black notebooks.

"Well, I guess we should look for one that has Host club information in it." _I reached forward and grabbed the notebook on the end, opening it and seeing absolutely nothing. _So it was a blank. Were they all blanks? I grabbed the next one, only a blank page staring back at me.

"What about this one?" I asked, grabbing the third notebook, "What IS this?" I showed the inside of the notebook to Hikaru. _It was in some awkward lettering. It looked foreign._

"Maybe it's for his foreign language class. He could be taking Greek or Latin." _I shrugged, grabbing the fourth notebook, disappointed when it was another blank one._

"Dummy. Latin letters are the same as Romanji." I lifted the fifth notebook and smacked Hikaru in the head with it. I probably should stop hitting him in the head because he really couldn't afford to lose anymore brain cells. Opening the weapon in my hand I laughed and showed it to Hikaru. _This couldn't be the Host club notebook. All it had were sketches drawn in it from all over the school, including ones of the Host club. Kyoya-sempai was a creepy guy._

"Well, at least we know that he has a creative side." _I shrugged, putting that notebook back in the locker and grabbing the sixth one and opening it. Bingo. _Alright! Every single day since the opening of the club was chronicled in this notebook, including the planning for the grand afternoon banquet we were having today. It was mostly arithmetic and notes about our guests and their preferences. All ways to keep the Host club running. _Kaoru looked up at me, mirroring the expression of sadism in my own eyes as I turned back to the notebook and ripped out the page for the banquet, making sure that it was torn out seamlessly._

I narrated some figures that we came up with that would make it seem that the club was short money, meaning that not enough food would be ordered for what was supposed to be a grand medieval style banquet. Hikaru mimicked Kyoya-sempai's handwriting perfectly. _It was going to be so much fun to see Kyoya-sempai I a pinch when there wasn't enough food for everyone. He was too cool to show much emotion. However, not only would he have to deal with the fact that the banquet was turning into a complete failure, but he would have to deal with the feudal lord panicking in his princely way._

"You finished? Alright, let's get going so no one catches us." I watched as Hikaru placed all of the notebooks back in the locker and made to close it when he stopped, "What is it?"

"There's still another notebook we didn't look at. We still have ten minutes. Come on Kaoru, what could it hurt." _I grinned at my twin, pulling out the seventh notebook and opening it. _I shrugged, why not?

"It looks like a journal. Kaoru, listen to this, 'I am a bit uncertain about the future of this club, but Tamaki seems to be even more ecstatic about it now that we've begun serving customers. Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai already are a natural pair with the guests, so their allure with earn the club big points. Tamaki is such a moron that girls flock to him no matter what he does. I am still suspect of the two first year twins, but in Tamaki's idiocy he still believes them to be 'our friends' though I am unsure about their intentions. I do know that I cannot afford to have this club fail. Father would use it to place my slim chance at running an Ootori company even further out of my reach. If this club succeeds, maybe I can prove something to them all.'" _I bit my lower lip and looked over at Kaoru._ I glanced over at Hikaru while wringing my hands together.

"This grand banquet is going to be fantastic, Kyoya! Don't you think our little kittens are going to be impressed with it?" _Shit!_ Tamaki-sempai! _Which meant that Kyoya-sempai_ was right behind him! _I threw the notebook back into its place and slammed the door, grabbing Kaoru's hand and pulling him out of the room with me._

We ran at full speed down the hallways of Ouran High School and back to the middle school. Well, Hikaru ran and I was kind of dragged. Either way, we were safe.

"That was a close call." I bent down, placing my hands on my knees and trying to suck in as much air as possible.

"But we did it. Now we will just have to wait until the Host club meeting today to see them both freak out." _I smiled at the sky as I stretched my back, taking in a deep breath. I couldn't wait to see Kyoya-sempai's face at the club. _I began to laugh, grinning when Hikaru's laugh echoed with mine. This was going to be so much fun.

IIIII

A/N - So, thanks to all of you who have reviewed, and I am sorry that this chapter took a while to get up, but this is to be expected since the new semester is right around the corner. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the tiny cliffy, but I still haven't exactly planned the Kyoya-notebook-stealing-arc in its entirety yet.

Also, if you have any trick that you've wanted to see the twins play on Tamaki or any of the other Host club members, let me know. I have some ideas already, but you can never have too many prank ideas on hand when dealing with the twins. Thanks a heap!


	6. Chapter 5

"Even if my princess were suffering from the plague, I would not hesitate to kiss your lips and give solace to your heart." Tamaki-sempai came up with some awful one liners. _What was with these girls? Everything he said was so damn cheesy, yet the things he said made them go crazy insane._

"Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun, what do you love most about the medieval time period?" The short black haired girl who had become our regular guest said as she looked towards us expectantly. Her other two comrades were clutching each others' hands. Guess it was time to start.

"I've always loved the jousting. All of those knights running at one another at full speed on their stallions, trying to knock one of the other off. It would be so exhilarating." _I told the girls. Trying not to roll my eyes I exaggerated my expression, forcing a huge grin onto my face._

"No, Hikaru. I couldn't bear it if you got hurt." You could see all three girls lean forward a little bit as I turned wide eyes towards my twin, letting my forehead fall on his shoulder. I knew he would be faking a sadistic smirk.

"Well then why don't we do a mock joust at home? I'm sure we could make something into a lance." _Smirk then grab Kaoru's wrist and hold it out and pull his torso into mine with my free arm. Sounds easy right. _Hikaru, just focus on what's going to happen once our plan to trick Kyoya comes through. _Ugh, let's just get it over with, _"Then we could joust together all night."

"Hikaru, why are you always so rough?" _Really? Why did we even come up with this skit? Ew. Ew. Ew. _I wanted to laugh out loud instead of pout innocently. Hikaru was not doing well with this. I could feel his arm shaking as it sat on the small of my back. He was just not doing well with this, was he? _How was Kaoru okay with this? _

"Oh such beautiful brotherly love!" The three girls squealed across from us as we continued to stare into one another's eyes. To finish the play I quickly wiggled out of Hikaru's grasp, something I am sure he was glad of, and looked sheepishly down at the table. This really wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of fun. _I don't think we'd ever really made anyone smile before. Huh, I wonder why I am just thinking about that now. It was not because I was okay with this weird role-play, most definitely not._

"Hika-chan!" _Honey-sempai dive-bombed me, almost pulling me off of my chair as he hugged me, that stupid pink rabbit nearly breaking one of my ribs, _"Aren't you excited for the banquet today! Kyo-chan even ordered custard tarts for us! The French used to call them coffins. Isn't that weird Takashi?"

"Yeah." Mori-sempai agreed with the loli-boy, his big hand ruffling my hair. Was this affection? No one except mom and dad had touched us like this, and even mom and dad kept their distance after a while, when we were both still very young.

_Honey-sempai was actually kind of cute when you thought about how small he was and how childlike he acted. It was hard to imagine that he was sixteen, and it was still kind of creepy. _

"Oh my goodness!"

"Look at all of that food!"

"Oh wow! It looks so regal!"

_Damn. That food looked freaking fantastic. I actually had to agree with the girls this time. _People dressed in waiter cosplay came into Music Room #3, carrying trays filled with food. Too bad there wasn't going to be enough. _Anytime now Kyoya-sempai would forsake his cool persona in order to become flustered with his 'poor' accounting skills._

"It is my pleasure to provide all of my precious princesses with a feast that will taste as good as you all look. Dine well, my little kittens." Tamaki-sempai said from the head of the table, all of the waiters distributing the food evenly along the table. _What the hell? Everything was planned perfectly. _We had never failed at anything trick we've ever tried to pull before. We even made sure that Kyoya-sempai made the order after we had faked the accounting. Why did everyone have food?

"Hikaru, Kaoru, are you enjoying the banquet?" _Shadow King! _His voice was like ice. Damn him. _Damn him._

"Uh…well…it's really good Kyoya-sempai." I answered for the both of us as Hikaru shoved a piece of rosemary potato into his mouth, signaling to me that he was not admitting defeat.

"That's good. I was particularly worried that I had planned for too much food to be brought, for in a momentary lapse of calculation I forgot that the woman's sports clubs are having their try outs this afternoon and many of our guests are involved in these various sports clubs. However, everything seems to be going as planned." _Kyoya-sempai's glasses glinted in the light. Terror, unspeakable terror, worked its way up both Kaoru and my spines simultaneously. _Kyoya-sempai: one. _Us: zero._

"Hikaru, do you think he planned for us to do that?" I whispered. Clearly he had to have known something, but everything worked out too smoothly for him to have planned it. Right?

"Somehow I think that we underestimated him, Kaoru." _Yeah, like…big time. How did that shadow bastard even do that? How did he know how many guests we were going to short out of food in our math? How the hell did he know anything?_

This is impossible. _This blows._

"Hikaru, Kaoru, can you come over here for a second?" _What did that foolish lord want? He better not try and piss me off; Kyoya-sempai had already successfully done that._ You could tell that Hikaru was angry that our plan didn't work. To be honest, Kyoya-sempai was a worthy opponent, and I had figured that he would outsmart us. I would never say that to Hikaru though; He wouldn't react so well. For me, the fun of the game was planning it as stealthy as possible. For Hikaru it was winning the game.

"Are you guys having a fun time?" Tamaki-sempai actually sounded like he was being serious for once. His voice didn't have the usual flair on the end and his eyes were full of earnestness.

"This club is just a way to waste time. Whatever fun we are having is because of us, not because of you or the stupid club." _I snapped. Was I taking our defeat by Kyoya-sempai out on the foolish lord, probably. He deserved it though, that stupid princely character. I grabbed Kaoru's hand and began to drag him back to our seats_

"How could you be so mean to me, Hikaru?" What? _Hold on a second?_

"That wasn't Hikaru. I'm Hikaru." I lied, pulling my hand from Hikaru's and basically running into the changing room next-door.

"Kaoru? What the hell did you do that for?" _I thought for sure he was going to reprimand me about being that mean to the feudal lord. I knew, whether Kaoru thought I did or not, that he actually really enjoyed being in the club, and he liked that princely character. Even though I wasn't convinced, and let that out, I knew that Kaoru was. So Kaoru trying to make Tamaki-sempai wrong didn't make sense._

"I just thought it would be fun, you know, for us to keep everyone guessing so that they would realize that we shouldn't be a part of this club. Isn't that what you wanted from the beginning?"

"Kaoru, you're such a freaking idiot! Get yourself together and meet me back in the clubroom." _He may be the smarter one, and he may be the less emotional one, but sometimes he was too tricky for his own good._

Hikaru left. I sighed and sat back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. Tamaki-sempai had guessed correctly. I remember when he had done that before, won the game that brought us to the host club. I know that both Hikaru and I were impressed with him then, but he had watched us at that time, so he could figure it out by observing. This time was different. Subconsciously he knew that Hikaru was the one who didn't want to be here, and was the one who would be brash enough to say it to his face. This time, being impressed took a backseat to being afraid. Afraid that things were going to become very different now.


	7. Chapter 6

**1:30am**

"Kaoru, you're such a freaking idiot! Would you please talk to me?" _Kaoru did this every single time. Every time he felt something too deeply he would just shut down. He wouldn't even talk to me about it, and I was the only one he ever talked to anything about. If I weren't his brother I would punch him. If I weren't me I would feel completely fine, but in reality whenever he did this it made me a bit jealous. I can't hide my emotions. I'm honest and I speak my mind, even around other people who didn't deserve to be in our world. Like today at the club._

_I thought what I had said to the feudal lord would aggravate Kaoru, but I didn't think that he would let Tamaki's ability to momentarily tell us apart get to him more than my tactless comment. Sometimes I wondered who the bigger idiot between the two of us was. Wasn't he the one who screamed that no one would ever be able to tell us apart, that he knew it from the very beginning?_

"Kaoru, I'm serious. Talk to me." _I crawled over to his bed, looking down at his face. I really hated when he did this. Why couldn't he just open up for one second? He just turned so that he was facing the wall. Honestly, Kaoru. _

**1:30am**

"Kaoru, you're such a freaking idiot! Would you please talk to me?" Hikaru understood absolutely nothing, did he? Tamaki-sempai had somehow been able to tell us apart. I knew we were always contradicting ourselves. We wanted to be told apart; we didn't want to be told apart. I couldn't talk to Hikaru because I didn't understand it myself, and I was the smart one. I guess you could say that I'm immature, that sometimes, though far less than Hikaru, I let my emotions run away from me. Like today at the club.

I thought what I had said to Tamaki-sempai would make Hikaru happy, but I didn't think that he would be so blind to what I was trying to do for him. Really though, I wasn't doing it for him; I was doing it for myself. Sometimes I wondered who the bigger idiot between the two of us was. Wasn't Hikaru the one who was comfortable never being told apart, comfortable with that from the very beginning.

"Kaoru, I'm serious. Talk to me." Hikaru's face suddenly appeared before mine. If we had just met at this moment would I be able to tell us apart? No, I wouldn't. I lifted my body slightly so that I could turn the other way and avert his gaze. I'm sorry, Hikaru."

**3:26am**

***** "The one who isn't me is you, right Hikaru?" I asked, reaching out a small hand and touching the other identical hand that was outstretched towards mine.

"Of course, silly. Mommy calls you Kaoru, so you can't be Hikaru." Three year old Hikaru curled his fingers within mine and smiled, cocking his head. We were cute when we were little. I remembered this, as I followed Hikaru down the hall; this was a memory not some ordinary dream, and I was playing myself nearly eleven years ago.

"If I'm Kaoru, then why do I look like you? If you were Hikaru then you would look different from me." Hikaru grabbed me around the waist and pushed me down on the ground, both of us giggling as we wrestled in the hallway.

"Mommy!" Hikaru's shrill scream blasted through the hall as I pushed him too hard into a hanging picture frame, the glass breaking and a sharp piece sticking into Hikaru's hip. He was crying. Mommy came running down the hall, folding Hikaru in her arms and looking at me angrily.

"Kaoru, you stay here with your father." I couldn't stop crying as Daddy picked me up. Mommy took Hikaru into the kitchen where he was still screaming and crying, and then the two of them left.

"Daddy! I want to go with Hikaru! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I buried my small head in my father's chest as he picked me up off the ground and carried me to my room. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I mumbled over and over again, curling myself into a little ball, weeping into the pillow. I was alone for what seemed like an eternity. When was Hikaru coming back? Would he ever come back? It felt like I had been wounded too, and it hurt really bad.

"Kaoru! Kaoru look at this!" I wiped away the tears from my eyes when I saw Hikaru run towards me and jump on the bed, pulling down his pajama bottoms slightly. There was a red line running along his hip with black thread looping around it, "The doctor said that I'll probably have this scar forever."

"I'm sorry, Hikaru." I started to cry again, but Hikaru just grabbed me around the neck and into a hug, giggling.

"You're silly, Kaoru. Now we'll always know which one is Hikaru and which one is Kaoru. Even if no one else can, we will always be able to tell ourselves apart. Kay?" He giggled again and wiggled his way underneath the covers, grabbing my hand and quickly falling asleep. We would always be able to tell ourselves apart, even in no one else could.*

**3:27**

"Kaoru, what do you think that you're doing?" _I woke up to my brother trying to pull down my pants, _"Can we please keep the twincest to as much of a minimum as possible? Geez. Please don't tell me you've gone as loopy as those wackos." _I laughed because Kaoru smiled, which he hadn't done all day._

"Hikaru, do you remember when you got that scar?" I was glad that I had read a lot of Jung and Freud books because the whole in body experience of a dream really made a lot more sense to me, and living in the conscious memory of my three year old self was a bit tricky at the worst of times.

"I don't remember much. I remember that we were playing and I got hurt, then I went to the hospital and this really fat nurse gave me a lollypop. Beyond that I have no clue." _Kaoru laughed and flopped onto his back, sighing. Good, he was finally going to break and tell me what was wrong, though he could have waited till later this morning._

"Hikaru, do you think that Tamaki-sempai could actually tell us apart?" I asked, slipping my arm under the covers and grabbing Hikaru's hand with my own. He squeezed my fingers comfortingly.

"That feudal lord? Not a chance. It was just a lucky guess." _I honestly didn't know how to answer that question, but I didn't really want to say that I thought that Suoh had actually managed to figure which one is which. Kaoru couldn't handle that right now._

"Oh"

"I still don't know why you didn't just let him be right, Kaoru. It's not like he actually can honestly tell the two of us apart. Only we can do that." _Again, I honestly wasn't sure whether the feudal lord was just guessing or whether he could tell. I didn't really want to think about it._

"I want to keep him guessing." I didn't want this to change, really. I wanted to be told apart; I didn't want to be told apart. I couldn't explain why I reacted the way I did except to say that I didn't want this to change. I didn't want Hikaru to become too different from me, too far away.

"You're a walking contradiction." _I shook my head as I punched him in the arm with my free hand, turning onto my side. Kaoru mirrored my movements so that it looked as if I was looking into a mirror. _

"You think?" I sighed, "Goodnight, Hikaru."

"Goodnight, Kaoru."_ My brother quickly fell asleep, his hand relaxing away from my own. Half of me wanted Tamaki-sempai to have told us apart, half of me wanted him to have just guessed well. Either way, something was changing and I had to find a way to stop it. For Kaoru._

IIIII

A/N – Yes, I know, it has been a long time since I've posted, but you can blame it all on college. Life has begun to get crazy again, and I haven't had much time to sit down and write, but I am going to finish this story. I promise. Right now I am going to try and post a new chapter ever week, but as of now I can only promise that this story has an ending and it will end at some point. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. Feedback is awesome so review, review, review!


	8. Chapter 7

A/N – AHHH! College! AHHH! I'm sure you understand. In this chapter there are two scenes that kind of happen at the same time, but one is in Hikaru's POV and the other is in Kaoru's POV. It shouldn't be hard to figure out, but if it is confusing let me know. Thanks for sticking with me guys, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review, review, review!

IIIII

"Kaoru, please tell me why we're doing this?" _I didn't want to be doing this, not after the night that I had. I was so worried about Kaoru all night that I forgot to sleep. Not to mention I ended up having a dream that that feudal lord was chasing us, trying to eat us while Kyoya-sempai stood nearby, calculating things in his notebook and a group of hopeless fangirls watched intently, cheering on their King. It was the nightmare of my life. This whole Host Club thing was beginning to anger me even more._

"Because Tamaki-sempai asked us to and, if that isn't enough for you, because Kyoya-sempai said 'that wouldn't be such a bad idea' and glared at us." I shivered just thinking about it. It seemed like Kyoya-sempai's looks had gotten even worse since he thwarted our plans to make a fool of him. _Just mentioning Kyoya-sempai was enough for me. That guy really creeped me out more than anyone else did. I really couldn't understand why girls were attracted to people like him. _While Kyoya-sempai was good looking for a guy, his attitude needed some work. Then again, I guess Hikaru and my attitudes also needed some work.

"Where are we going anyway?" _I didn't like being woken up at the crack of dawn, especially when it was because that stupid King had a not-so-brilliant idea. Why couldn't he just leave us alone? He already spent every afternoon with us at the club. Why did he need to spend time with us on Sunday? _To be honest, I didn't really want to be up, but Tamaki-sempai called to ask. He called us, and then all of a sudden Kyoya-sempai entered the call. Then Honey-sempai, and maybe even Mori-sempai because I'm sure I heard a few grunts. _Why did everyone in this stupid club need to ruin our lives anymore? Kaoru and I were fine alone. We've always been fine along._

"Tamaki-sempai said it was a surprise."

"Well, knowing him it will be something he thinks is fantastic but we think is totally lame." _Isn't that how it always worked out for us? Fun things just weren't fun, like that computer game. We either lost or we won. _Hikaru might think it is lame, but there were things that I thought were fun and winning and losing didn't matter so much to me in the end. When I was playing a game with Hikaru, it was almost as fun to lose as it was to win because I was able to help him win by losing. _It wasn't fun to win all of the time, especially when playing with people who were more idiotic than Kaoru and me. It wasn't fun to lose either, mostly because those people were more idiotic than Kaoru and me. I could tell that Kaoru let me win a lot of the time when we played, but I just enjoyed playing with him so much that I let it slide._

"We're here." I said as the car came to a stop in front of a modern style mansion. The design made it look smaller than it probably was. _This couldn't be that foolish lord's place. It wasn't showy enough._

"Come on" _I grabbed Kaoru's hand and dragged him out of the car door. We stood together for a few minutes in front of the house. I could feel Kaoru's hand clench around mine even tighter. _This was the first time we'd ever been over to someone's house before. It was like we were walking into a world where we didn't belong, where we didn't fit in.

"Kao-chan! Hika-chan!" I quickly let go of Hikaru's hand and turned just as I was toppled over by and overenthusiastic Honey-sempai, "I'm so excited that we get to play with everyone today! Just like at school!"

_Honey-sempai turned to me and grabbed me around the middle. It felt like my back would break in half. I was holding out hope that the loli-boy didn't act this way in public. Damned if anything goes my way anymore_.

"Honey-sempai, Mori-sempai, Kaoru and Hikaru! I am so glad that everyone decided to show up!" That unmistakable princely voice. _Damn it. I know he planned this whole thing, but why did he have to come?_

Hikaru and I were basically out of the car by an overzealous Tamaki-sempai. _Freaking idiot. Who likes being grabbed by the shirt and dragged out of a limo? No one._ Hikaru was grumbling inside. I smirked despite myself. It was the beach? How bad could it be? Then again, it was Hikaru I was thinking about. _I think I already got sand up my shorts and it's all that idiot prince's fault. _It was Hikaru, which means all I would here when we were alone was 'whine, whine, complain, complain.' This'd be good for him. Good for me too.

"Hika-chan! Kao-chan! Let's play!" Honey-sempai grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards the waves. _I shook the little loli-boy off of me. I did NOT want to be here right now, _"Hika-chan you don't want to play with me?"

_I shook my head and walked off to where Kyoya-sempai was, sitting down in the beach chair next to him. Even thought one look from the Shadow King made me want to cry myself to sleep, he was the only one to ever turn our own trick back on us. That gave him major points. I just had to tell myself that I was only hear for Kaoru, that once he got this whole 'Host club' infatuation over with we could continue together like we had done before. Just us. I knew it was really what Kaoru wanted. He seemed like the smart one, but really he was as emotionally insecure as I am. _

"I think you've made Honey-sempai upset." _Kyoya-sempai's smooth remark came. Mori was trying to console the little loli-boy who had burst into tears. Kaoru was trying to calm him down as well. Damnit Kaoru! If he got too attached then he wouldn't want to leave. What was he thinking!_

"I don't really care." _I spat back at the Shadow King who just pushed up his glasses and began writing something in his little black book. _

"Whether or not you care isn't really my concern; however, if your actions in any way begin to affect the wellbeing of the club then you and your brother will make up the difference in our losses" _A.K.A. if we even so much as leave the club and are no longer hosts then we have to pay for the what the club is losing without our brotherly love package. Money grubbing idiot! Why did I think that hanging out with Kyoya would be LESS annoying than hanging out with Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai?_

"Hikaru! Kyoya! Daddy wants everyone to play together!" _Tamaki-sempai. At least being with Kyoya-sempai was less annoying than even being on the same planet as that stupid halfer._

"Moron."_ Took the words right out of my mouth Kyoya-sempai._

IIIII

"Hika-chan! Kao-chan! Let's play!" Honey-sempai grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards the waves. _I shook the little loli-boy off of me. I did NOT want to be here right now, _"Hika-chan you don't want to play with me?" Honey started tearing up, Mori-sempai trying to console him.

Hikaru had just walked away and sat down next to Kyoya-sempai, which was probably why Honey-sempai was crying. The little loli-boy wanted to play with both of us. Hikaru looked bored, worse than that; he looked like he was ready to murder something. I should go sit next to him so that he isn't alone with Kyoya-sempai.

"Let's go hellfish shunting?" Honey-sempai! The loli-boy had grabbed my hand in his, wiping away the last remaining tear as he dragged me further towards the breaking waves.

"Honey-sempai, I think you mean…oof!" The water was suddenly rushing around my ears and I scrambled for the air, coughing, righting myself into a standing position, "Tamaki-sempai!"

"Daddy surprised you this time Kaoru! You look so cute when you're surprised!" I just glared at the blond prince. Tamaki-sempai was such an idiot, but at least he was a merry fool. I grinned, reaching down and splashing Tamaki-sempai with a large amount of seawater.

"Hey, that's cold!" Tamaki-sempai giggled, crossing his wrists in front of his face to shield himself from any more splashes. I couldn't help myself, I laughed. I laughed as I ran at Tamaki-sempai and body slammed him into the surf like he had done to me.

"Take that Tamaki-sempai!" I stood and raised my hands in the air in victory before getting completely knocked over by an incoming wave.

"That was a big one! It washed us both to shore." Tamaki-sempai said excitedly, running his fingers through his blond hair, extending the other hand to help me stand, "It's nice to see you having fun with us, Kaoru. I'm going to go see if Hikaru wants to play too." He placed a soft hand on my shoulder, flashing me a kind smile before running up the beach towards where Kyoya-sempai and Hikaru were sitting.

Tamaki-sempai, I don't understand. I don't understand why you care.


	9. Chapter 8

"I'm so exhausted!" Hikaru breathed a sigh as he plopped down next to me on the beach towel I had borrowed from Kyoya-sempai. Kyoya-sempai had finally gotten into the water when Tamaki-sempai asked, and I was surprised to see him have fun. _I was so exhausted, so I lay on the towel as I exclaimed my exhaustion to my brother. I didn't really think that Kyoya-sempai would actually go alone with that feudal lords request to have us join them in the ocean, but once I had heard the 'come on Hikaru, let's go' from the evil shadow king, I knew that my life was over. _

"Me too, but I'm really glad that we came today." I said, leaning back and folding my arms underneath my head. The sky was so blue, and the distant crashing of the waves was like a soft lullaby. I was truly happy.

"I thought that you looked happy. I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time, Kaoru." _I reached down and grabbed my twins hand in my own. Kaoru was such a freaking contradiction. He nearly has a mental breakdown when Suoh told us apart once, and now he is completely enjoying himself, not caring that everyone in the Host Club has been telling us apart all day._

"It felt good to smile. It felt good to laugh too. I think the best part was when you did it too. You had fun, whether you want to admit it out loud or not." I squeezed Hikaru's hand as he huffed as if I had said something completely wrong. It didn't matter how much he tried to deny it, I knew that he enjoyed himself just as much as I had. _I had to give it to Kaoru that he was observant. Then again, he was my twin, he better be able to tell that much._

"Mind if I sit here?" Mori-sempai's deep voice echoed from above us. I think that was the most words he's said to us since we joined the club. _It speaks! _I nodded and padded the empty spot next to me, Mori-sempai sitting down and stretching out his long body along the towel, "Thanks."

"No problem, Mori-sempai." I said. _I said. _ _Within seconds the second year giant was asleep. Keeping up with Honey-sempai must take it out of the big guy. Honey-sempai had so much energy; it was a miracle that Mori-sempai could keep up. He must be incredibly athletic. _Honey-sempai looked and acted like such a child that it must take Mori-sempai a lot of patience and energy to stay by Honey-sempai's side as much as he did. I wonder if there was anything else Honey-sempai could do other than look cute.

"Hikaru, I have an idea!" _Shit. Kaoru had that face, the face he gets when he gets an idea that is completely savage, the face that says 'Hikaru, it's time to take over the world.' _ _I love him, and I love that we play tricks together, and I love that we are both mischievous, but I hate that his mind works out plans that are completely sadistic. Oh God…he's like Kyoya-sempai when he's like this! How come I never put this together until now? Damn! _

Hikaru's face quickly matched mine. I knew that in his head he was trying to weigh the pros and cons of whatever plan I had come up with, but I knew that he wouldn't hesitate to follow me and my brilliance. It was an unspoken agreement we've had since we were little. He helps me with my tricks, and I don't play any on him. I would never actually pull one of my pranks on him, I love him too much, but it's nice to have that as a bargaining chip in my favor

_I let him whisper his plan into my ear. It was simple enough. _Honey-sempai was taking a nap underneath an umbrella, which was why Mori-sempai was over here relaxing. _Kyoya-sempai was in a discussion with Tamaki-sempai about finances for the Host-club, which meant his money-grubbing eyes were focused on his black notebook and his calculator. _Tamaki-sempai was talking about his precious club, and he couldn't multitask to save his life.

So here is what we would do. I would quietly make off with Usa-chan while Honey-sempai was sleeping. _While Kaoru was infiltrating Honey-sempai's nap spot I would steal a melon from the ice chest in the villa and fasten two pieces of seaweed to it, so that it looked like it had bunny ears. _Then when I got Usa-chan I would hide it near Mori-sempai, underneath the blanket, and give Hikaru the go ahead. _Once I got the signal from Kaoru I was going to throw the fake Usa-chan into the surf, wait for it to go out far enough and then…._and then…

"Honey-sempai!" Hikaru yelled, running towards the loli-boy, waking Honey-sempai out of his nap. He looked like he was about ready to take off Hikaru's head.

"Usa-chan must have been left out by the surf and when the tide rose it took him out to sea!" _Kaoru yelled. Good timing, Kaoru. Honey-sempai looked as if he was going to skewer me and roast me over a fire pit, but as soon as Kaoru mentioned Usa-chan, Honey-sempai went flying._

Hikaru came up behind me and placed his arm around my shoulder. Yes, I agreed, it was a job well done. _Honey-sempai was swimming as hard as he could to reach the fake Usa-chan, when the real one was lying underneath the towel that Mori-sempai was sleeping on. _It was a surprise that Mori-sempai hadn't woken up. He was halfway down the beach though.

"Mori-sempai! Wake up Mori-sempai! Honey-sempai just swam out to get Usa-chan, but Kyoya forgot to mention that high tide was going to be especially dangerous today." Tamaki-sempai had run leapt up from the table he was at with Kyoya-sempai and ran towards Mori-sempai, screaming frantically. High tide? _What did that mean? Why was the feudal lord butting in anyways?_

"I didn't think that the abnormal high tide was worth mentioning since I figured everyone would be done swimming and getting ready for dinner at this time of day." Kyoya-sempai said, walking casually after Tamaki, stating the facts as if they had no bearing whatsoever. _Well that was a completely inadequate explanation. Abnormal high tide? Did that mean that Honey-sempai was in danger?_

"Mitsukuni!" Mori-sempai's deep growl was painfully frightening. Mostly because it was painfully frightened.

"No, Mori-sempai, it doesn't matter how strong you are, you aren't going to get to him in…" _Time. _Time. I could finish the sentence for Tamaki-sempai, but only in my head as I stood their powerless. _A huge wave rose and collapsed right onto Honey-sempai, as a shrill 'Takashi' shot into the air._

"Tamaki. Let go." Mori grumbled, shaking off Tamaki-sempai's hand and diving into the sink just as the head of Honey-sempai bobbed up almost twelve meters from where the wave had caught him. _Kaoru grabbed my hand and squeezed hard, his nails almost breaking my skin. No, Kaoru. Don't blame yourself. Don't do it, Kaoru. _

This was my fault. This was my entire fault. Mori-sempai was dragging Honey-sempai into shore, the loli-boy unconscious. Tamaki-sempai and Kyoya-sempai ran into the shallow surf to help Mori-sempai drag the dead-weight. I could have killed him. He could be dead because of me.

"Get medical personnel to the villa as soon as possible." _Kyoya-sempai was on his phone before the three of them had pulled Honey-sempai out of the surf, and it seemed like it was only seconds until a car drove itself onto the beach and took both Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai to the nearest hospital._

"What's this? Seems to be curious, don't you agree Hikaru, Kaoru?" Kyoya-sempai beat down and picked up the watermelon with the seaweed for ears. He knew. _Figures that Kyoya-sempai would figure it out._

"You two didn't have a part in this did you? Tell me that my two boys wouldn't do this to a member of their family!" _Tamaki-sempai's voice was dead serious. He wasn't beautiful like this. He wasn't happy, charming, witty, or idiotic like this. He was staring us down with those violet eyes. _

"We were bored. Usa-chan's hidden under the blanket we brought. We only thought that it would be funny once Honey-sempai noticed that it was just a fake bunny. We didn't know that the tide was too high. We didn't know that this would happen." _Kaoru confessed to everything. I could tell that he was on the brink of tears. He didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean for this to happen. Kaoru, it's not just your fault. I clasped my arm around his waist. He was shaking. _

"Kyoya, let's go. Kaoru, Hikaru, I'm disappointed in both of you. Neither of you are welcome at the Host Club anymore. I knew you two could be mean, but I never thought that you could do something like this."

Too harsh.

"Wait! Tamaki-sempai! Sempai! Tono!" I screamed without even realizing what I was saying. The blond haired boy stopped walking when he heard the last word, but I saw him shake his head and keep moving. Tono. Why only now did I realize this? What all of this meant to me?

"Kaoru!" _He finally broke, falling to the sand in a crumpled heap, tears flowing out of his eyes. I get it now Kaoru. Tono... that was what he had said. I was wrong Kaoru. I thought that you didn't want to be in this stupid club, but I get it now. This club was really all you ever wanted, and not just for yourself but for me too. Damn you Tamaki Suoh. Damn it all._


	10. Chapter 9

A/N – GAAAAHHHHH! I'm sorry! Gomennasai! It's been so incredibly busy that I haven't gotten a new chapter up. I have a three day weekend so I want to be able to get another chapter up soon. Thank you all for sticking with me!

IIIII

"Come on Kaoru, you need to get out of bed and stop overreacting. That's usually my job, remember?" _I had been trying to get Kaoru out of bed for an hour. It had been over a week since the beach incident and Honey-sempai had still not gone to school. We knew this because Kaoru made sure to keep tabs on Honey's progress even though we weren't allowed at the Host Club anymore. _

I ignored Hikaru, like I had all week. I was the one who was rational, but I was also the one who enjoyed a game, to make Hikaru laugh by tricking someone. This time I overdid it. I never overdid it. This time I actually hurt someone.

"Kaoru, look, if it makes you feel any better than I am just as guilty as you are, but I still don't think that we did anything wrong. We didn't know that it would end up like that." Hikaru, you're wrong. It was dangerous. We knew that he would go after the rabbit. We knew that he was small; for all we know he could have brittle bone syndrome or some type of dwarfism that limited his physical mobility. _It's not as if Honey-sempai couldn't take care of himself. Honey-sempai was always leaping up in the air in order to land on Mori-sempai's shoulders. He was like a little blond haired bunny rabbit. It wasn't as if he didn't know how to swim._

"Fine, if you are just going to wallow in self-loathing all day then do it. I'm going to go to Honey-sempai's house and apologize." _Fine Kaoru. Who do you think you are, using my strategy? I am the one who perfected the over-emotional and hot-headed response to things. It's my innate reaction, so I know how it works._

"Why apologize? I thought you said you didn't think we did anything wrong." I grumbled into the pillow when I felt Hikaru lift himself off the bed. I heard the click of the light switch in the bathroom being flipped to the 'on' position. I heard shuffling. I didn't want to hear anything. Did he even see Tamaki-sempai? Tono was horrified. There, I said it again, Tono.

"I don't think that we did. I'm going as you. Maybe your conscience will follow me and when I get back home, you'll have overgrown your momentary stupidity." _I saw Kaoru lift up his eyes as I walked out of our bathroom in his favorite t-shirt and pair of pants, my hair parted to my right._

"How much of an idiot are you? That's probably one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had." Hikaru was an idiot. Did he really think that that would work? Did he really think that I didn't know what he was trying to do? I've been acting like him. So what? We are brothers; we are twins. Just because I don't become overly emotion like he does, doesn't mean that I can't throw a fit. Besides, seeing Honey-sempai is a bad idea. With my current luck I would be a brother short because I'm pretty sure that Mori-sempai would strangle him if Mori-sempai thought Hikaru was me.

_Well done Kaoru, you figured it out. Finally. I knew that you were smarter than that, smarter than me. _It would have taken Hikaru years to figure out something like this if the roles were reversed. Then again, if the roles were reversed he would feel as guilty as I do right now.

"Does that mean you're coming with me?" _I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest._

"Yes. Let's just make sure that we stay out of arms reach of Mori-sempai when we get there, alright Hikaru?"

"You don't need to tell me twice. He could probably crush us with his bare hands."

IIIII

Ouch. _Ouch_. What happened? _What the hell just happened?_

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan! Are you okay! I'm soooorrryyy! I thought you were part of the training." Honey-sempai's head was right above mine. _Honey-sempai was looking right down at me. I could feel Kaoru's head touching mine. Was he in this much pain?_ I felt like a spike had worked its way up my spine, keeping me perfectly still but painfully stabbing through my spinal cord at the same time. I tried to sit up, but it was no use. There was no way I was going to be able to move.

"Mitsukuni." Mori-sempai said, "You need to be more careful." _I could see the giant ruffle Honey-sempai's hair with a large hand. _

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, do you think you can stand up?" Honey-sempai reached out a hand to me, helping me off the floor. I could feel my legs shaking unsteadily as I made my way over to a fluffy pink couch with pillows that looked exactly like Usa-chan_._

_Mori-sempai practically lifted me off of the floor and carried me over to sit next to Kaoru. As soon as I was seated next to him he grabbed my hand. I understood what he was trying to convey: What the hell just happened?_

"Honey-sempai, I, uh, we, uh…" I tried to say, but I couldn't stop my voice from shaking. I was looking right ahead and seeing a sixteen year old who was at least a head shorter than I was. There was no way, logically, that both Hikaru and I could have been thrown to the ground that hard by someone so small.

"What Kaoru is trying to say is that we, uh…"_ He didn't look like it right now, but just a few minutes ago, when his kindergarten-sized foot was flying at my gut, he looked like some wild boar. It was frightening. It's still frightening. Look, I'm shivering._

"It's okay. I know that you didn't mean to barge into my room unannounced. I shouldn't have been practicing somewhere other than the dojo. Let's just forget about it. Kay?" _What's scary is that I can almost see the creepy flowers surrounding that sickeningly sweet smile. _Did he really not even get what was going on? I thought Honey-sempai was smarter than that.

"Honey-sempai, I don't think you understand. We just came to…"

"It'll be alright Hika-chan and Kao-chan. Tama-chan's just a lonely guy. He was just worried and overreacted. I'm sure Tama-chan will come around sometime. Right Takashi?"

"Yeah."

_I dunno what's more impossible: Honey-semapi actually sounding intelligent for a minute or Kaoru's mood lift suddenly. Then again, I guess since both happened it's proved that I'm the really idiot in this bunch._


	11. Chapter 10

A/N – SORRY! This is gonna be the last one for a while, but I wanted to get it out there as soon as possible. I've seriously been writing about a sentence a day, here and there. I hope to get the next one out sometimes soon…though I wouldn't be expectant of that. I'm planning to finish this by new years. We will see though. Thanks for sticking with me!

IIIII

"Hikaru, just stay still for one second!" Why did he always insist on making EVERYTHING difficult.

"It's really cold, Kaoru. Couldn't you warm it up a little bit before you put it there!" _Seriously, Kaoru_. _If I could do it myself I would._

"Stop being such a wuss. It's gonna sting anyways, so it's better if I just do it quickly and press hard."

"I don't want it anymore, Kaoru. Just stop."

"Damn it, Hikaru! You'll feel better once I'm done, so just let me do it."

"You do know that if one of our guests were listening to this they would think infinitely more was going on than you putting an ice-pack on Hikaru's back." _I wrenched my neck to the door when I heard the silky smooth yet patronizing voice. _Hikaru! Ach! I fell backwards at Hikaru's reaction of whoever came into the room and fell back off of the bed, right onto my own bruise, the icepack landing right on my face.

"Kyoya-sempai! What the hell are you doing here?" _I tried to launch myself off of the bed but my bruised back just seized up and I ended up falling off and landing on the floor next to the bed. _I heard a thump on the opposite side of the bed from where I was laying; Hikaru must have fallen. Klutz.

"Your father was kind enough to let me in." I sat up, watching Kyoya-sempai look around before sitting down at a table on the other side of the room as he spoke, "Do you know how much your little mix-up cost the club? We had to stop selling our brotherly love package" _Kyoya-sempai, no, the Shadow King, pulled out his black notebook and began flipping through the pages, his glasses glinting._ I looked quickly over to Hikaru, noticing that he looked exactly as frightened as I felt.

"Uh, well, we didn't think that we would be allowed to go back to the club since we were banished by Tono." I looked down at the ground, avoiding the cold stare that I was getting from Kyoya-sempai. _Kaoru said it again: Tono. Damn Shadow King. I was hoping that if Kaoru just forgot about everything then he would get over it. If he got over it then it would be okay if I did too._

"Tamaki is a moron." _Well duh, Kyoya-sempai_.

"We knew that from the beginning." _I sat down on the bed, propping my chin casually on my hand._

"Tono is an idiot, but…he's good at reading people. He could see through us, through the barrier we had placed around ourselves." I sat down next to Hikaru, grabbing my brother's hand and squeezing it. _Damnit Kaoru, it's no use. If you keep thinking about it then I am going to continue thinking about it. It was safer when I just didn't care about anyone in this stupid club._

"Honey-sempai?" _Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai walked into our room, no doubt ushered by my father. What was this? An intervention party_.

"I brought some medicine for you Hika-chan and Kao-chan! The Haninozuka family uses it for bruises; it should make you feel better!" Honey-sempai ran across the room and handed Hikaru a small container filled with gel, "About Tama-chan, about him seeing through people. Tama-chan's smarter than we give him credit for; he just shows it in his own way. That's why Kyo-chan's friends with him too. " _It's true. It's why Kaoru and I thought we would be able to wound that feudal lord by blackmailing him about his mother._ We knew that he was alone, like us, all along. We knew that if we hit that wound on him he would shatter. Well, we though he would. _But he just seemed hurt. Shocked that we would know about that and bring it up. He came back too; he came after us._

"Tamaki may be an idiot, but in the end he has all of us. This includes the two of you." I've n ever heard Kyoya-sempai talk so nicely about anyone. I think he kind of indirectly complemented us by including us in their group. _Did Kyoya-sempai just indirectly call us all friends? No way._

"Kyoya-semp…"

"Kaoru! Hikaru! Come downstairs and see the wonderful costumes I made for you and that little club of yours!" I was interrupted by Mother's voice calling me from downstairs. _I looked at Kaoru and he met my eyes at the same moment. _

"Costumes for the club?" I said. _I said_. I kept Hikaru's hand in mine as we got up and ran downstairs. What could she mean?

"Haha! There you are! Welcome to Neverland my little lost boys!" _When we opened the door, Tamaki-sempai was there_. Dressed up like that character from J.M. Barrie's play—Peter Pan. _Really? Peter pan?_

"Wow, Tama-chan! You look great!" Honey-sempai said from behind where I stood, staring at Tono in his green tights. _Tamaki-sempai looked so much like feudal lord that I wanted to fall to the ground and laugh, but for some reason I kind of wanted to cry too._ As ridiculous as Tono looked, I could feel my eyes begin to sting. In his own unique, idiotic way, Tamaki-sempai had called us family again.

"Isn't this great you guys? I was watching the American Disney version of this timeless children's classic, and I immediately thought that we should do cosplay at the Host Club every day! Isn't that a wonderful idea?"

"It's impractical, Tamaki. We don't have enough money in the budget we get from the school to do cosplay." Kyoya-sempai walked through the door, pushing up his glasses as he glared at Tono, flipping through the pages of his black notebook.

"But that's exactly why I volunteered to help! I was so thrilled when this young genius told me that my sons were part of a club that I told him I would help out with creating cosplay for entertaining those young women. Clothes make the man, and if you all are planning on entertaining young ladies for very much longer you will want to wear clothes that will make an impression every time they come to see you. Girls get bored easily if you don't give them something new, something fresh."

_Mom? _Mom.

IIIII

"Kaoru, have you seen my…" _He was asleep already. Damnit, Kaoru. He hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights, and now he looked incredibly peaceful, curled up on his bed. I sat down and grabbed my twin's hand. He was so excited when Tamaki-sempai showed up at our house with that stupid cosplay idea. At least Kyoya-sempai was just as annoyed with that feudal lord as I was. Actually, Kyoya-sempai was probably even more annoyed because the feudal lord stabbed him in the arm with the hook-hand that was supposed to be for Kyoya-sempai's Captain Hook cosplay._

"Tono…great adventure…lost boys…" _Kaoru was mumbling in his sleep. Tono. Damn that feudal lord. I want Kaoru to be happy. I want to be happy, but I don't know if being in the Host Club makes me happy. Being expelled from it felt like I had lost something but…NO! There's no way that that stupid club and those idiotic people mean ANYTHING to me. It's not…_

"Hikaru…family…friends…we belong…"_ Damnit Kaoru! We've never belonged anywhere! No one has EVER accepted us. Why does this stupid club, those stupid people mean so much to us._

_Us? Why? Why did I…did I really mean us? Adventure. Family. We Belong. _

_I get it Kaoru. I think I get it now._


	12. Chapter 11

"You two look so cute in that cosplay."

"Yes, you look exactly like the twins from the Disney version of _Peter Pan_."

"Even if it didn't remind me of that child's movie, it's still adorable to see the two of you in raccoon costumes."

Come on, Hikaru, just get a hold of yourself and stop your eye from twitching. You'll scare the girls. _I hate this costume. I hate these girls. I hate Kaoru for making me do this. I hate Kyoya-sempai for being okay with this. I hate Tamaki-sempai. I hate Kaoru. I hate that feudal lord. I hate…I hate…I hate…_

"I think the costumes are cute too. I just wish that Hikaru would stop pulling my tail. He's so rough." I prompted Hikaru, trying to get him to stop being angry and just put on the show for the girls. I know he's always hated doing anything like this in front of the girls, but he never was THIS tense about it before.

"I'm only rough because you like it Kaoru." _Okay, Hikaru, just breathe. You got some words out. Not a bad performance. Why is it bothering you so much? Why are you talking to yourself in the third person? Damnit._

"But Hikaru, you…ahh." Hikaru put his hand around my neck, his thumb rubbing from my chin down. Finally. He really let his emotions take hold of him way too much. I thought that maybe this time he would actually trying being a part of this club, but it looks as if he hates it even more than when we began.

"Don't argue with me or we will have to play an even more intense penalty game." _Damnit, Kaoru. This is all your fault. You were the one who opened the door first on that day. I told you that it was just going to be to pass the time because we were bored. As soon as it stopped being fun we would leave. So why haven't we left yet? _

"Attention all of my lovely princesses. Unfortunately this is the last Host Club meeting for the week," _Duh, it's Friday. We don't meet on the weekends because we don't have school_, "But do not fret my little lambs, all of the hosts shall await you Monday morning. You all are so lovely that your lingering beauty will be the only thing that can sustain me over our long absence from one another. Adieu Belles and we hope that you return to Neverland soon!"

The girls all squealed at Tono as he made his oration from the top of a coffee table and looking as stoic as possible. _Talk about breaking character. Peter Pan would never say something as cheesy as that. Actually, I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't speak French either. Ugh, remind me why I'm here?_

"Thank you for your business ladies. Remember that the Ouran Host Club is here to serve you. Before you leave please pick up a business card with the URL for our new website where there will be and auction held for giving pieces off the cosplay that the hosts were wearing today to a few lucky guests."

"Kyoya-sempai, what do you mean auction?" I asked once all of the girls had exited Music Room #3, peering over Kyoya's shoulder and looking down at his computer.

"Well, I tried to find a way that we could pay your mother for the costumes she is making for us as well as keep them for future use if we should need them."

"Kyoya! Why didn't you tell me about this? Were you trying to leave your King out of this plan?" _The feudal lord rushed over to Kyoya-sempai's side, shaking his hand in front of the Shadow King with his palms face up as if he were asking something from heaven. Tears were streaming down his face. So pathetic._

"Tamaki, you're capriciousness put us in this position. We don't have enough money in the budget to pay for cosplay; however, we had a record number of guests today. Despite how much I don't want to admit it, the themed cosplay had much to do with the new success." Kyoya-sempai continued to type on his laptop, pulling up a webpage that had a picture of the Indian brave cosplay that Mori-sempai was wearing today, "Look, Mori-sempai's cosplay is already up to 500,000 yen and the guest just left a few minutes ago."

"Wow, Kyo-chan! That's an amazing idea! Isn't that right, Takashi?"

"Yeah."

"I guess that's okay, but Kyoya, you said we were going to be able to keep these costumes. How can we keep them if you're selling them to our guests?" Tamaki-sempai leaned down over Kyoya, putting his long arms around the Shadow King's neck.

"Isn't it obvious, Tono?" _Kaoru stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, using one of his hands to rub his chin. Don't do it Kaoru. Don't get involved, _"Kyoya-sempai had my mother make two of each cosplay. That way we can keep one and sell the other. It's a great plan, actually." Really it was. I know that my mother didn't spend more than 100,000 on each costume, so at this rate the club would be able to pay my mother back as well as earn a profit on each costume. Kyoya-sempai was really smart.

"For the most part you are correct; however, I actually ordered three of every costume because while the girls will pay prime prices for a complete costume, they will also pay high prices for pieces of the costume. See." Kyoya-sempai navigated to another page where only the hat from Tono's cosplay was being sold. The hat by itself was already up to 70,000 yen. Wow. _This guy was the devil incarnate. Kaoru was amazed, obviously, so was everyone else. To be honest it was a very good plan, but no plan was ever perfect, even one concocted by the Shadow King_.

"It's a great plan and everything, but take a look at that web design; it doesn't look pretty at all. If the website doesn't look inviting then either no one will trust it enough to purchase anything or you'll lose money because people won't be impressed enough to bid higher. The whole site needs to have a better aesthetic." _I crossed my hands over my chest and looked up as I spoke. Kyoya's plan was good, but his execution had flaws_. I never thought that this day would come, especially with how he was acting earlier today with the guests. Welcome to the dark side, Hikaru.

"Hmn, Hikaru does have a point. Our guests like to be visually stimulated, so it may be to our benefit if our website is as stimulating as the Host Club." Kyoya-sempai tilted his head, made a note in his notebook, and then pushed up his glasses before looking over to Hikaru and Me, "I suppose you two can take charge of that then?" _Me?_ Me?

"Sure, leave it to us!" I said, giving a thumbs-up to Kyoya-sempai. _I said, giving a thumbs-up to Kyoya-sempai_. This was exciting. We actually had something to do in the club now; we had a place in the business side, not just as a dynamic yaoi fangirl fantasy. _I don't know why I was so excited about this, but I guess it's just something else to do to keep us from being bored. I guess being in this club wasn't going to be a total drag this time around._

IIIII

"Hikaru, aren't you going to get in bed. It's almost four in the morning. The light from the laptop is keeping me up." I whined. Hikaru and I had come home and begun working on the website, and he hadn't stopped, even when I decided to go to bed an hour ago.

"Just finished!" _I stood up and stretched, closing the laptop. The website was perfect. I made it much more user friendly, setting it up more like Amazon instead of an auction website._ I watched Hikaru run into the bathroom to change.

He was still the same Hikaru, but something small changed. Maybe he was finally seeing how we were a part of something. I thought it would take longer, especially for Hikaru, but I shouldn't complain.

"Hey, Kaoru. I just had an idea. What if we took pictures of us all as a club so that we could post them on the website? We wouldn't have to sell the pictures, but we could put pictures of us so that the girls can visualize things better when they are bidding."

"That's actually a good idea, Hikaru. If the girls see our faces while they are buying things, it may make them bid higher in order to outbid another girl. Fan girls are crazy when it comes down to it." Hikaru climbed into his bed and turned his face to mine.

"Plus, Mom has professional photographers that work for her. It would be easy to get a few of them to call tomorrow. Well, goodnight, Kaoru."

"Goodnight." Hikaru fell asleep quickly, turning onto his side so that he was facing me. I grinned. He was smiling in his sleep. This might actually be the start of something good. I enjoyed being a part of the Host Club, but without Hikaru it wasn't completely fun. Maybe now I would really be able to enjoy myself, and maybe we would both finally belong somewhere…together.

IIIII

A/N – Merry Christmas! I wanted to update this yesterday but that didn't end up happening. I said last authors note that this fic may be finished by New Years. Due to me actually getting to go out of town for a week, that will not be happening; however, I do hope that I'll be able to update more regularly. Thank you all for being patient.

Don't forget to review, review, review if you liked it!


	13. Chapter 12

"WHAT?" _No way. You've got to be kidding me. There is no way that this is happening. Not now. Not when we were both so close_. Finally things were going our way. Finally we were a part of something. Why now?

"Hikaru, Kaoru, stop acting like children about this. You both know that these things happen, and you also knew that your father being transferred was a possibility. We told you as much when you were in middle school and the company branched out." Mom was just sitting there, smiling her normal emotionless smile. _Did she even care what we felt? _

"It's only going to be for six months at the most. I told your mother that I would be fine by myself if she decided to stay here. I told her that I would make sure to come home every month, but you know how she is." _Don't try and justify it, Dad, you'll just make it worse._ I reached over and tried to grab Hikaru's hand, but as soon as my fingers touched his palm, he balled his fists.

"Look boys, know you're angry right now, but think of it as an extended holiday! Africa is a beautiful country. Besides, you and I will get to spend more time together since you'll be tutored at home. You both can help me make new designs! I wonder if papyrus is a malleable enough material to use." Mom_, you just don't get it, you don't get anything!_

"Hikaru! Come back here, your mother and I are not done talking to you yet!"

"He's not going to cool down anytime soon. You know how he is when his temper takes hold. I'll go talk to him."

"At least one of our sons understands about this, right dear."

"You're wrong. I don't understand, and I hate it just as much as Hikaru does. We finally found a place where we belong, with people who accept and understand us. Leaving it, even for six months, is just going to but us back where we started." Alone.

I ran upstairs after Hikaru and away from our parents. They wanted us to move to Africa? In our first year of High School? What an idiotic and selfish plan!

"Hikaru, that's some temper that you've got there." I walked into the room and saw Hikaru sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. This was a time for me to be strong. If we had to leave Japan, leave Ouran, leave the Host club, I might as well act like it's for the best. Be strong for Hikaru.

"Don't act like you aren't upset too."

"Maybe I am, but I'm more rational than you." I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, feeling Hikaru's hand in mine almost instantly.

_Damn it. Why am I reacting this way? I liked going overseas. It would be fun to travel somewhere new. Africa would be interesting too. Think of all the animals we would get to see. Safari's throughout the grasslands. Tamaki-sempai would love seeing all of the different kinds of animals. WHAT AM I SAYING!_ _Damn that Tamaki Suoh. He wasn't going to win me over that easily._

"Kaoru, what would you think about us running away?"

"What?" What were you saying Hikaru? Run away? It's not as if Africa would be that bad. It's not that running away would actually work.

"Think about it Kaoru, if we ran away to Kyoto or Osaka, just somewhere else in Japan. We know the combination to the safe, so money wouldn't be a problem. If we enrolled in school somewhere we can always feed the school a lie about being orphans or something. Besides, I'm sure a commoner's school would be easy to get entrance to and would be too poor to try and track our parents down. We wouldn't have to move to Africa, and we wouldn't have to stay part of that stupid Host club anymore. What do you say?" _This could work. If I wasn't around my parents, that stupid feudal lord, or the rest of those idiots then maybe I would feel better. I wouldn't have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and, most importantly, I would forget about that stupid club and the stupid things that Kaoru and I have had to do. This could work._

"Hikaru…you've gone insane! How could you ever think that that would work?" I thought that maybe he was just upset at leaving Ouran. That's what I was upset about. We finally made friends and now that was going to be torn away. If it wasn't mom and dad tearing it away it was Hikaru. How could he be so selfish? I wanted to be a part of that club. I liked everyone in the club, even the Shadow King, even Tono.

"If you're not going to come with me then I don't need you either. I'll just go. It'd be easier to travel alone anyways." _What was his problem? So what if I've gone insane. No, Kaoru, you know what, I haven't gone insane at all. This is perhaps the MOST sane thing I've ever done. We've always closed ourselves off to everything because it's kept us safe. Right now that's what we have to go back to doing. We just need to leave and be alone._

"Do you think I'd ever let you do something like this on your own. If you leave then I leave too. I just…"

"You just what, Kaoru?"

If I say that I want to stay here then Hikaru will just be mad at me. He'd be right to be because there is no way that either of us will be able to stay here. Mom and dad made that perfectly clear tonight. If I stayed here then they would find a way to figure out where Hikaru went and then he would be in trouble. Serious trouble. If I did stay here, not only would Mom and Dad be angry with me for letting Hikaru go…Hikaru would be angry at me for both not coming with him and ratting him out to our parents. Is leaving really the right thing to do though? We just made friends. Well…I just made friends.

I guess they really can't be true friends if Hikaru doesn't think of them as friends. I'm pretty sure Hikaru still hates the club. If I asked him, would it make the decision any easier? If I asked him, would he tell me the truth knowing that if he hated the Host club he could either hurt me while saying he actually liked those idiots would hurt his pride?

"Kaoru, you just what?" _I repeated. Kaoru's brows were furrowed. He was thinking hard about this. Come on, Kaoru. What have we really got to lose? Do you really think that the Host club is something that special? It's not. They're all able to get those girls to believe that they are sincere; do you really think it wouldn't be easy enough to get us to believe it too? That's what they do. Manipulate people's emotions. At least…well…it's easier to think about it that way in order to keep our hearts safe from being torn apart._

"Hikaru, well, I just think that we should leave tomorrow. Mom and Dad both have work and everyone else has school. We can get a head start without anyone worrying that we're missing" I tilted my head and forced a smile.

"Great! We can call the school and say that we are both sick, so no one will be expecting us at school. Mom and Dad leave early enough in the morning that they will think we are in school. It'll be too late by the time they all realize what's gone on. You're a genius, Kaoru!" _I squeezed Kaoru's hand. It's wonderful to have a twin that is so intelligent. Tomorrow I wouldn't have to feel confused anymore. It would just me Kaoru and me, alone, like it's supposed to be, _"Goodnight, Kaoru."

"Goodnight, Hikaru." I got into bed at the same time as my brother and turned off the light, but I didn't feel tired at all and turned to the window to stare out at the stars. Hikaru, I love you. You're my brother, my other half. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if I have to. If I have to lose everything else in the world to stick by your side; I will. Even though…even though it feels like my heart is about to be torn into pieces.


	14. Chapter 13

A/N – So, here we go. There may only be one or two chapters left and a small epilogue. Not that long left, but thanks for all sticking with me on this one. I really appreciate it, especially since I haven't been updating all that regularly. You know how senior year of high school is typically easy, well, senior year of college is worse than the first three years…at least it is for me. I'll try and get this done though. It will be finished; I just don't necessarily know when.

Review, review, review! You're input means a lot to me!

IIIII

"You FORGOT the tickets?" So predictable. I know that I told Hikaru that he had to buy the train tickets and print them out since this was his idea, but I should have know that he was too scatterbrained to actually follow instructions.

"I'm sorry. I didn't…sorry." _Why did he leave it up to me? He was the one who was in charge of the plans. I put the tickets on the table near his wallet and cell phone. It's HIS fault._

"It's fine. We will figure something out. Since we're already at the train station, it would give us away were we to go back home. The maids are already up by now."

"Do you think there would be a way to sneak on?" Hikaru's mind was working now, pondering his plan. I wish that would have happened before we snuck out of out window so that he wouldn't have forgotten the tickets, "Kaoru, do you think that it could maybe work to get us a pair of free tickets?"

"Technically we are already registered as having tickets on the train so I suppose that it could theoretically work. It couldn't hurt to try it out." _Kaoru agreed with my plan. If he agreed then it was sure to work. All we had to do was make sure we stayed out of sight._ I grabbed Hikaru's hand and lead him over to a bench at the end of the loading platform. It was near one of the ticketing building's most awkward angles. _Ha! Well played brother! No one would be able to see us from here unless they were looking for us. Now all we had to do was wait for the train to start pulling away._

"Kaoru, when do you think everyone will figure out that we're gone? I mean, we left a note for the maids saying that we went to school early to check out a few books from the library. Mom and Dad won't pay that much attention."

"I think Dad may suspect that we'll do something, but I don't think he would imagine us going to this kind of an extreme to avoid moving. They both probably thought moving to Africa would be an adventure and relieve us from being bored. Kyoya-sempai might figure it out, but by that time it will be too late. Besides, it's not like they will do anything about it."

"You're probably right, Kaoru. Look, I think the train's about to move. Ready?"

"Ready."

PSHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Mom! Dad! No don't leave us here alone!" _I ran at the moving train after the whistle blew, dragging Kaoru by the wrist with one arm and waving my other arm in the air. This had better work or else Kaoru would never forgive me for leaving the tickets at home._

"Hikaru! Slow down! I can't keep up!" Three…two…one…I made it look as if my hand had fallen from Hikaru's and fell to the ground, making it big. Hikaru turned to look at me, then turned to look at the moving train, "Brother! Go on without me! Mom and Dad love you more than me anyways! Go, I can make it on my own!"

"Kaoru!" _I ran back to Kaoru dramatically and knelt by him. Damn it, Kaoru. You didn't need to fall hard enough that you would get scratches on your arms_, "Don't be stupid! You don't ever have to be alone, Kaoru."

"Hikaru!" Cue the fake tears. I hope that worked.

"Oh, you poor dears! Where were your parent headed?" One of the women from the ticket counter ran over to us quickly, but most people were moving in towards us with tears in their eyes. _Success! Kaoru told her where were heading and gave her our names, and she printed out tickets for us to get on the next train._

"That was a good plan. Good to know that this stupid Host club stuff is good for something." _I put my backpack on the seat next to me and lifted up my legs to rest them on the seat across from me. Finally. We would be on our way to Osaka. Once we were there then we could apply for a school, take the entrance tests, and finish our last year of Middle School._

"It worked better than I expected. Hikaru, don't forget that we have to change trains in Kyoto. We have a while until we get there, but we need to make sure that the change goes smoothly, especially since it's probably going to be really busy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm tired; I'm gonna sleep for a few hours." _Geez, Kaoru. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Then again, we were leaving everything we knew. I really wonder if Kaoru was being completely honest with me. Usually I know when he is lying, and I feel like he is uncomfortable with us leaving, but I can't tell what he really thinks this time. Either that means he is confused himself or that there isn't a problem. Kaoru's not usually one to be confused about things though; he figures out things much earlier than I do, so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about._

I was glad that Hikaru seemed to feel okay about this. I don't really know what I feel. Hikaru is my brother, my other half, and I would follow him anywhere. We both needed one another. Truthfully though, I guess I needed him more than he needed me. I guess that's why I really couldn't fully enjoy the Host club. My happiness is dependent on Hikaru's happiness, and if moving to Osaka would make Hikaru happy then I would willingly do it, even if…even if I felt like this was a really bad decision. But…well…we had always been alone, so it wouldn't be hard to get used to being alone again.

LAST CALL FOR KYOTO STATION! I REPEAT…LAST CALL FOR KYOTO STATION!

"Kaoru! Wake up! Hurry up, Kaoru!" _Damn it! What had Kaoru told me before I fell asleep? I should have set an alarm on my phone or something. I didn't think he would fall asleep too!_

"What?"

"We need to get off the train! They're already boarding this train to leave for somewhere else." _Hurry up, Kaoru! _

"Hikaru! Slow down! I can't keep up!" Hikaru grabbed my hand and ripped his backpack off of seat, running towards the exit. I kept bumping into people, and my legs felt like they were going to slip out from underneath me.

"Kaoru!" _Shoot! We were just about to get off the train when Kaoru's hand slipped away from mine, _"Kaoru?" _No…no, no, no. I looked behind me and saw Kaoru stuck in front of a large group of people. He was still on the train. _"Get out of my way! Move it!" _I pushed and pushed people out of my way. Kaoru was doing the same thing. _

"Hikaru!" I tried to push past the people coming towards me but I couldn't set a foot off of the train platform. Why didn't I wake up in time or stay awake in the first place? "Hikaru! Let me…"

"KAORU!" _Where did he go? I couldn't see him anymore. Did something happen? He was there one minute and now he's gone! What the hell happened? _"KAORU! KAORU! STOP THE TRAIN! PLEASE STOP THE TRAIN! KAORUUUU!"


	15. Chapter 14

This wasn't supposed to happen. The reason we left was so that I could be with Hikaru, so I could be there for him since he couldn't figure out what he really wanted. Because of Hikaru's rash decision we left our parents who had loved us since we were born, sometimes when no one else did. We left our home and our school. With all of that we left the Host Club…the club that had begun to mean so much to me. To think that I assumed Hikaru was beginning to fit in, that he was beginning to see them as friends…like I was.

"Um…Sir…where does this train stop next?" I walked up behind a taller gentleman and reached out to pull the bottom of his jacket in order to get his attention when, all of a sudden, something hit me from behind with such force that I flew into the back of the tall man in front of me, my nose flattened against a very strong spine.

"Tokyo" A gruff voice said as I righted myself, checking my nose to see whether or not it had been broken in the collision. My waist was still constricted in someone's grasp, most likely of the person who had pummeled me before.

"Yeah, Kao-chan! Back to Tokyo where you belong!" I knew that voice. Come to think of it, I knew both of those voices.

"Honey-sempai? Mori-sempai?" My gaze shifted from the stoic second year to his loli-boy companion. Despite my best efforts, I broke out into tears. I couldn't help it. People were staring at me and my two sempai's who were trying to drag me into an open train compartment. Once inside Mori-sempai closed the door and sat down across from me; Honey-sempai was sitting next to me, his feet dangling above the floor of the train.

"We came to get you Kao-chan. Kyo-chan thought that something was wrong this morning when you didn't show up to school and so he called your house to ask where you were. Tama-chan was so worried about you both, right, Takashi?"

"Yeah."

I couldn't believe it. Well, the part about Kyoya-sempai figuring out our plan I had already figured out before we had even gotten on the train.

"What about Hikaru? We have to get him! He's stuck in Kyoto!"

"Tama-chan is probably with him now. We all took a car together! We were all going to meet you two in Kyoto, but as soon as Takashi saw that you and Hikaru had split up we decided to jump on the train and leave finding Hikaru to Tama-chan. Isn't that right, Takashi?"

"Mhmm."

"Shouldn't you all just have stayed at school?" I responded, probably a lot more bitterly than I wanted to. This all confused me. The fact that Kyoya-sempai had somehow figured all of this out ahead of time was too frightening to think about, and while I was glad that Tamaki-sempai was on his way to find Hikaru, I wasn't entirely sure if that was going to be a good thing, especially since Hikaru still wouldn't accept Tono.

"It doesn't really matter. Takashi and I are at the top of the class, so we can always make up the work that we've missed. Besides, sometimes the people you care about are more important than your obligations to yourself and others, and sometimes you have an obligation to yourself that means more than an obligation to someone else. You should know that Kao-chan!" Honey just grinned at me with his sweet smile and his bright eyes. How come this was the first time that I had noticed how he hid the double meanings of his words behind that smile and his wisdom behind those wide eyes?

"I…I know. Hikaru…I just couldn't let him face this alone." I didn't want to leave Ouran. I knew that and was too afraid to talk Hikaru out of leaving. That wasn't a wrong decision; I don't regret it, but then why can't I swallow? Why didn't I make a point of remembering the tickets when I really knew that Hikaru would forget? Why didn't I make sure to wake up before our stop? Why did I let go of Hikaru's hand?

"It's okay, Kao-chan. You did what you thought was best for the person you love the most. There's nothing wrong with that, but couldn't you have also been a little bit selfish too?"

"Honey-sempai, wasn't escaping from everything already selfish enough?"

"No, it wasn't," Mori-sempai's deep voice addressed me quickly. It felt like a spark had been ignited in my body and was slowly burning me alive. If that wasn't selfish then what was? Wasn't just leaving and not dealing with anything selfish? Maybe…just maybe…it wasn't selfish because leaving wasn't my choice. Maybe this really wasn't what I really wanted, but wouldn't that mean that always being by Hikaru's side wasn't really what I wanted? That was impossible.

"You're wrong. You're both wrong." Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai just shrugged, and before Honey-sempai had the chance to say anything else, I placed my chin on my open hand and stared out of the window trying to make myself as small as possible.

IIIII

"Might as well just sit down here and wait." _Damn it, Kaoru! What the hell were you thinking? Couldn't you have held on just a little bit tighter? Damn it! Now I was stuck at the Kyoto station without any money and without Kaoru. I sighed and walked out from the main part of the train station and away from all of the annoying people waiting for trains, sinking down to the ground and leaning up against the wall once I found a relatively deserted corner of the town._

_This didn't turn out at all like I had wanted it to. I thought that if Kaoru and I were alone together that we would never have anything come between us. So much for that. A mob of people getting onto and off of the same train came between us. What were you thinking Kaoru? What was I thinking? This wasn't Kaoru's plan; it was mine. _

"I'm such a freaking idiot!" _Oops. A little loud. I grinned and waved apologetically at the father carrying a little girl on his back. The man looked at me but remained emotionless while the little girl giggled and waved back. They kind of reminded me of Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai._

"Shut-up, Hikaru! Stop thinking about stupid club and those stupid people!" _Shit, another outburst. I really need to learn to control my emotions; I was drawing too much attention from the few people who were around. Cautiously I looked around me. Some older man with glasses was watching me and writing stuff in a small beige notebook. What a creepy guy. He kind of reminded me of…_

"Ugggghhhh!" _Forget this. I need to find a new place to sit where there are NO people around. I got up and began walking further and further from the train station. Kaoru would come and find me eventually. It wouldn't be that hard. I just need to find someplace that will let me stay for the night and pay them back later._

"Madame, I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen my son anywhere? He's lost and should be somewhere around the train station." _I heard someone talking. Curious, the voice sounded almost as idiotic as Tamaki-sempai's. This needs to stop happening to me. Part of the reason why I left was to get rid of those Host club lunatics. _

"I'm sorry. I haven't, but I will let people know that there's a young boy who's lost."

"Thank you so much, Madame! Sir! Sir! Have you seen my boy?" _Geez, this guy seemed really desperate. Well, I guess if you lost your kid you'd want to find them. I wonder if Mom and Dad were trying to find Kaoru and me. Hold on, maybe if I help this man find his son then I'll get a reward or something. Water, food, money, or even a place to stay would be nice. Hell yes! See, Kaoru, I'm not always THAT much of an idiot!_

"Umn, excuse me, I can help you find your…"

"HIKARU!" _Before I knew it I was grabbed by the man who was searching for his son and pulled into a suffocating hug. What just happened? _"I've been trying to find you. Are you alright? Did you get trampled by anyone getting off of the train? Don't worry, Daddy's here!"

"T…Tamaki-sempai? What the hell are you doing here?" _I pulled away from him, brushing off as many of the places he touched me with my hand._

"Daddy came to rescue you! I had Momma figure out what train you guys would be on and so we all took a car up here. I'm glad that I finally found you!"

"Why? Why would you do that?" _It just didn't make sense. Why was he here? Why was he the one that came to find me? This foolish lord. This idiot. This…this…this_

"Because that's what families do. Hikaru, I know that you don't really enjoy being in the Host club, and I can't force you to stay once we get back to Ouran, but you should know that we all care about you. Kaoru cares about you too." _I looked into his blue-purple eyes and finally realized something that I had been trying to avoid all this time: I liked the Host club. I liked Mori-sempai's silence and Honey-sempai's childish ways. I liked Kyoya-sempai's devious shadowy ways. I even liked this foolish prince and his crazy antics. I liked them._

_I'm such an idiot! Kaoru had grown to like them way before I had, and he was trying to stand by my side and get me to like them too. It probably hurt him so much to leave this morning. He must have been so depressed to leave something that he liked. It must have hurt Kaoru to know that his brother was the one who took it away from him._

"Tono. I wanted to hate you. I tried my best to hate you, but in the end, I can't."

"Of course not! Look at this gorgeous face and shimmering hair!"

_I laughed despite myself and somewhere in the middle of that laugh I realized that I had called him 'Tono.' Just like Kaoru._ _KAORU!_

IIIII

"Hikaru!" I yelled, running off of the train to where Hikaru and Tono were sitting on a bench. Hikaru was asleep, his head lying gently on Tono's lap. Tono was running his hand through Hikaru's hair. I immediately knew that everything was going to be okay. Finally, Hikaru. Finally you see it too. Family—they are our family.

"Kaoru?" _Tono's legs moved underneath my head and woke me up. Wearily I looked up and saw a blurry image of myself, _"Kaoru!"

Hikaru jumped up and pulled me into a hug, "Hikaru! I missed you!"

"Don't you ever let go of me again!" _I smiled, glad to have Kaoru next to me again._

"Would you two please stop engaging in brotherly love when there aren't any customers around?" Kyoya-sempai's voice could be heard from behind us, so I let go of Hikaru and grinned, noticing a small smirk on the Shadow King's face. _I pulled away from Kaoru and looked up to the sky, scratching my head and avoiding the gaze of the Shadow King. _

"Kyo-chan, stop being so mean! That was mean, right Takashi?" _Well done Honey-sempai_

"Yeah"_._

"Yes, mother, we should not berate our sons, especially after the emotional trauma they have endured today!"

"Stop calling me that, Tamaki. Anyways, we should all head back to the car so we can at least try and open the club. If we don't we will have some _very _disappointed guests and, if that happens, I am holding you personally responsible."

"Kyoya! That's so unfair! Why do you hate me?"

Tono and Kyoya-sempai continued to squabble like an old married couple as we all walked back to the car. _Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai_ _were walking in front of us, Honey-sempai on Mori-sempai's back, playing with Usa-chan and talking about the type of cake he wanted to get once we all got back to Ouran._ _I slipped my hand into Kaoru's as we followed the other four members of the Host club. _Hikaru's hand in mine took every worry from my mind. From this moment forward we were going to do this. These people were our family. _Kaoru squeezed my hand, and I knew that he was happy that I finally came around. Damn it, I hope I wasn't going to regret this._


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue: The Door the Twins Opened…Again

"Remember Kaoru, we can't be moved by what Tono does and says." _I told Kaoru as I placed my hand on the familiar door handle of Music Room 3._ _The metal wasn't as cold as it was the first time. _I took the handle too, smiling despite myself. We were in this exact same spot last year, except now we were High School students. We knew exactly what to expect this time, well, as much as anyone could know how things will go with this group of people. _Kaoru and I made the decision to stay in the Host Club. Not all of our questions were answered. As far as we knew, no one could tell us apart, although they guessed right more often. _It was nice to finally see a few people in the world as friends and companions instead of idiots.

"Yeah, I know. We need to make sure that we use our time the way we want to." I looked down at my hand that was grasping the doorknob. We knew that this was going to be interesting. _If we got bored then we would play tricks on the rest of the Host club. They deserved it. Not to mention we would be able to play more tricks on the people that attended the club or were in our classes. _Actually interacting with our classmates would be a new benefit of finally seeing that we can interact and have fun with normal people._ Now that we both felt more comfortable being ourselves, it would be possible for us to find more victims…I mean, friends. Our first…friend…could be that new commoner in our class. _There was a new honors student in our class, maybe he would be our first new friend.

"Right. We'll help make decisions on cosplay and twincest roleplay. We'll do this together." _I nodded at Kaoru. This really wouldn't be so bad. Once we opened the door we would be able to walk in and entertain our customers. _I wasn't afraid. If anything, I was excited to find out what this year would hold for us. I wonder if something really interesting will happen to us now that we're in High School. _Kaoru and I are going to have fun this year. We're going to continue to do this together, but we'll leave a bit of room for other people to join us. This year is going to hold some great new surprises. _I took a breath. _I took a breath_.

"Ready, set" Go. _Go._

IIIII

A/N – so that's the end! Thank you all for bearing with me and reading this story. I hope that you all enjoyed it. I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but getting ready to graduate from college has its drawbacks, especially in having time to do anything for myself. Anyways, it has been a great time. If you enjoyed it I would appreciate one more review. Thank you all so much!


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